Robert E. Rodes

Robert Emmett Rodes (29 March 1829-19 September 1864) was a Major-General of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Rodes was one of Robert E. Lee's trusted divisional commanders, serving in Richard S. Ewell's corps until his death at the Third Battle of Winchester in 1864.

Biography
Robert Emmett Rodes was born in Lynchburg, Virginia on 29 March 1829, and he graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 1848; he taught there as an assistant professor until 1851. Rodes served as chief engineer of the Alabama and Chattanooga Railroad in Tuscaloosa, Alabama during the antebellum years, and he chose to serve Alabama during the American Civil War when the state joined the Confederate States of America. He commanded a regiment at the First Battle of Bull Run in July 1861, and he was promoted to Brigadier-General on 21 October 1861. Rodes was wounded in the arm at the Battle of Seven Pines and again at Antietam in October 1862, and he briefly led Stonewall Jackson's corps at the Battle of Chancellorsville when Jackson was wounded. A dying Jackson decided to promote Rodes to Major-General. Rodes' division played a limited role at the Battle of Gettysburg, fighting only at Oak Hill on the first day of the battle. In 1864, he continued to serve in Richard S. Ewell's corps during Jubal Early's Shenandoah Valley campaign, and he was struck in the back of the head by a shell fragment at the Battle of Opequon on 19 September 1864, killing him.